Transcript by Newsy: http://www.youtube.com/user/NewsyWorld?feature=mhee Image Source: Flickr/FreedomHouse2 BY DANIELLE CARTER Confusion remains after the kidnapping of Shi'ite pilgrims in northern Syria earlier this week. Euronews describes the immediate chaos. "The main road to Beirut airport was blocked with burning car tires by friends and relatives of the missing men." The missing were returning from a pilgrimage to Iran when their bus was held up in the Aleppo region of Syria. While most sources agree on this detail, their reports differ on the amount and gender of the hostages. Euronews reports 13 Lebanese men were kidnapped. While Voice of America says that several dozen women were kidnapped along with 11 men. However, Al Jazeera says, while women were a part of the group, they were not kidnapped along with the men. That report says the women returned to Beirut early Wednesday. One woman tells reporters about the captors. "'They pointed their guns and got into the buses. First they took us to the fields saying that they are taking us away from the shelling, while they took us there to kidnap the men...They said they are the Free Syrian Army.'" But according to sources, the Free Syrian Army says otherwise. Here's France 24 with more. "The Free Syrian Army leader, Riad Al-Asaad, has denied that his group has anything to do with this kidnapping, but it's not clear that he has complete control on the ground." The kidnappings have done nothing to help the tension in Lebanon. A columnist for the Telegraph describes the conflict in this way. "Lebanon navigates a fragile fault line over Syria, which had troops on the ground in Lebanon for nearly 30 years until 2005 and still has strong ties to Lebanon's security services. The countries share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries, which can quickly turn violent." There are no reports saying the kidnapped men have been released.
